Holding On
by AmIthatweird
Summary: When an arrest goes wrong, what will happen to our favourite genius? ReidWhump!
1. The Fall

**A/N - Hey guys! Two stories in one day - look at me go! This is just a quick start to a story I've wanted to write for a while. Will probably end up being two or three chapters.**

 **Disclaimer - I do not own Criminal Minds or the characters used in this story. This is purely for use as entertainment, not profit.**

The members of the Behavioural Analysis Unit had just hit a breakthrough in their most recent case. There had been a spree of murders in the down-town urban area of Chicago. Five bodies; all male, in their early twenties, single and all had blonde hair and blue eyes. Each victim was found tortured, their bodies covered in hundreds of lacerations appearing to have been made with a plethora of different blade types.

The agents used this information to create a decent profile; the Unsub was obviously malicious, probably a Satanist. He was male, in his thirties and would have had some kind of run in with someone matching the victims' appearances that made him feel worthless or powerless. He would probably have an average job and would stay out of the way as much as possible.

After some digging by Garcia, they found that all the victims attended the same fighting gym and after even more digging, they found someone who matched their profile.

His name was Dennis Hughes and he was a cleaner at the gym. He had gone completely AWOL two days before the first body was found and the his colleagues described him as very quiet and guarded. Garcia looked into his past and found that when he was twenty one he had been a victim in an investigation. A man, blond hair, blue eyes and twenty two years old, had been accused of raping Hughes in an alleyway. They found that the man who raped him was a trainee fighter and would've easily overpowered Hughes. However, no charges were ever pressed.

This was definitely their guy.

That had all led them to being in transport to Hughes's address, ready to make an arrest.

"We're here," Hotch stated as they pulled up to the small block of flats, "everyone stay alert and be careful, we don't know what Hughes has in store for us."

The rest of the team all voiced their confirmations before they exited the vehicle. Hotch took the lead, followed by Morgan, then Rossi, JJ and Reid.

Guns held at the ready, they made their way up to the correct apartment.

Morgan banged on the door forcefully, "FBI, open up!" There was no reply.

"Dennis Hughes, you're under arrest! Open up!"

Still no reply.

Hotch gave Morgan a quick nod and he skilfully kicked the door down. The duo entered the apartment, closely followed by the others.

Hotch turned and entered the room on the left, then Morgan headed right. The other three continued forward. JJ then disappeared into the bathroom, and Rossi into the master bedroom, leaving Reid to check the large living room.

He heard a series of 'clears!' come from his team mates as he explored the room. He walked around it slowly with his gun pointed. The room was dark, but he could see no evidence of there being anyone in the room so lowered his gun and was about to shout "Clear!" but was stopped abrubtly when a man suddenly jumped out of the shadows and tackled him down.

Reid hit the floor with a severe force and gasped loudly in both pain and surprise. He struggled around under the man, but he was a lot stronger than Reid and effectively had him pinned.

"FBI, release him now!" came a shout from behind them, Reid thought it was from Hotch but in the heat of the moment he couldn't be sure.

Hughes didn't let up, only pushing down on Spencer's frame harder, digging his finger nails into Reid's arms.

"Release him or I'll shoot!"

Hughes seemed to consider his options for a couple of excruciatingly long seconds before he lessened his grip and muttered "Okay, okay. I'm letting go!"

"That's it. That was a good decision. Now, you're going to stand up slowly with your hands on your head"

Hughes did as he was directed and Reid instantly jumped up from his awkward position on the floor. He pulled down his shirt and took out his handcuffs, moving to place them on Hughes while Hotch and the others, who had joined them God knows when, kept their guns trained on the serial killer.

Reid grabbed the killer's arms, maybe a bit too viscously, and forced them down so he could slam on the cuffs.

Without warning, Hughes lunged towards him again. But before he could do anything, a shot rang out and Reid watched Hughes pulse forward as the bullet tore into him

However, Hughes' now limp body still had enough momentum to land right into Spencer and once again, send him stumbling backwards. Reid braced for impact into what he though was just a wall behind him. However, as he soon discovered, he was actually falling straight into a window.

He smacked the glass hard, shattering it instantaneously. The jolt forced the air out of his lungs and he soon felt himself falling.

Time seemed to slow down as he plummeted downwards. He uselessly waved his arms around as he fell, doing anything to try and slow his fall.

He rasped for a breath as he saw Morgan's face come into view above him.

"Spencer!" he called out desperately.

That was the last thing Reid heard before his body slammed hard onto the ground. He felt his head collide strongly with the concrete with a painful crack before his world went black.

Morgan stared down at his friends unmoving body helplessly. He was stood, frozen to the spot; shock taking over his body.

"Morgan! Come on!" Hotch shouted at him, pulling him from the broken window and making him tear his eyes away from the horrific scene below.

He followed behind his boss as they sprinted at top speed down the stairs of the apartment block. They ran outside and ran straight to Reid's still form.

There was a pool of blood quickly growing around Spencer's head, matting up his once luscious locks. He looked extremely pale, even for him, and his ever-present dark circles under his eyes looked ten times worse.

Morgan couldn't tell if he was breathing.

He knelt down and gently lifted Reid's head into his lap as he stated down at the young agent's chest, praying for it to move. Hotch also knelt down, but instead grabbed his wrist and desperately searched for a pulse.

A beat passed.

"I have a pulse. It's weak and growing weaker, but I have a pulse," he stated.

"Thank God," Morgan whispered.

"We need to try and slow the bleeding. Try and find the wound on his head and apply pressure to it," Hotch instructed.

Morgan felt all around Reid's head, and eventually found two large, deep wounds that were quickly leaking blood. He held his hands against them and pressed down firmly, slowing the blood flow. Tears began to form in his eyes as he watch the life drain out of his friend.

"We've called an ambulance" Rossi voiced from nearby.

Hotch nodded gratefully.

"How's he doing?"

"He's alive. For now."

 **To be continued…**


	2. The Waiting

**A/N- Its me again! How's everyone doing today on this fine summer evening? So here is the second chapter. I was thrilled to see the good reviews from people and it spurred me on to get writing the next part straight away! Now this didn't turn out as I'd envisioned it too, it became very dialogue heavy and not much actual Reid whumpage – so I apologise now if this isn't what you wanted :( However I'm still happy with it so lets go!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or any of the characters used in this story.**

"Too much blood"

"Possible spinal injury"

"High blood pressure: 160 over 90"

"Pulse is weak"

Spencer's mind was spinning. Voices were shouting all around him, but he couldn't see anything but blackness. His head was in excruciating pain, like someone was repeatedly slamming a hammer into his brain. He felt like he wanted to scream out but he physically couldn't; the pain overtaking all of his senses.

The paramedic crew rushed around the thin man's body, doing everything they could to help him cling on to life for long enough to reach the hospital and allow the surgeons to save his brain. Morgan sat feeling helpless in the corner, he felt as if he couldn't do anything other than watch as his best friend fought for his life.

Hotch had sent Morgan in the ambulance, he had desperately wanted to go himself as Reid had become like a second son to him, but he knew that as the team's leader he should be the one to support the rest of his team at this time.

Hotch, Rossi, and JJ followed not far behind the ambulance, not hesitating to use their sirens to their advantage.

Rossi rang Emily on the way, letting her know of the situation. She had taken a few day's off to visit family but had dropped everything when she heard about the resident genius.

The journey to the hospital was relatively short, but seemed to last forever for the BAU members.

When the ambulance arrived, it pulled up right outside the doors to the ED. The back doors of the ambulance were swung open straight away and Reid was wheeled out. He was hurried into the main waiting room, where a team of doctors and nurses were waiting.

"This is Spencer Reid, FBI agent, was pushed out of a three-storey window. Has two major traumas to the head, suspected haemorrhaging. BP is 160 over 90, heart rate 65, has had 30mg of Morphine and 1L of saline. Also possible spinal injury, though no symptoms have been presented."

"Okay, lets get him to the OR now!"

Morgan followed closely behind the group, desperately trying to make sure his friend was alright. As they took Reid away to the OR, a nurse appeared in front of him.

"You can't go in with them Sir, you'll have to wait out here"

"But I need to," Morgan started but was cut off by the nurse.

"The doctors will do everything they can to save your friend, I can assure you, but I'm afraid you will have to wait out here," she said firmly yet kindly.

"Okay," Morgan accepted.

He slumped down in a chair in the waiting room, the exhaustion finally catching up with him. He took out his phone and rang Garcia, who was became almost hysterical over the news. She explained that she couldn't get there straight away but he assured her that he would let her know as soon as they hear any news. He settled down, ready for the long wait, but was interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the team.

"How is he?" JJ asked.

"They've taken him to theatre, something about haemorrhaging? He didn't look good..."

"Oh God," JJ swallowed, taking a seat next to Morgan.

"What, what if he doesn't make it" JJ asked the group fearfully.

"Hey! I don't want anyone thinking like that. Reid is a fighter and he will get through this," Hotch told the group.

Rossi nodded in agreement, "Yeah, no way Reid is going to be defeated by this"

JJ looked up at the older pair for a second, before nodding too. "You're right, he is a fighter"

\- Two Hours Later-

"Will you stop pacing!" Morgan exclaimed, startling the tired group.

"Sorry, I'm just worried. Shouldn't we have heard something by now?" JJ said as she took a seat yet again.

"No news is good news I suppose," replied Rossi, "Anyone want coffee?"

"Yeah, I would love one," said Hotch, the other two nodding agreement.

"Okay, be back soon," and with that Rossi stood and left.

The group settled back into silence, but not for long as they were soon interrupted by the arrival of Prentiss.

"Hey guys, I got here as soon as I could. How's Spencer?

"He's still in surgery, we've had no word from the doctors yet," Hotch informed her.

"What actually happened? Rossi tried to explain on the phone but it was rushed and I didn't get much of it," she asked the group.

"I don't really know. One second he was stood there. Next second he wasn't," Morgan answered.

Emily looked confusedly at him.

"Basically, our Unsub had Reid pinned to the ground. We threatened to shoot and he got up in surrender. Reid went to cuff him but he lunged at him. I shot and killed the Unsub but he'd already managed to knock Reid off his feet and right through the window," Hotch explained for her.

"Oh my God, Reid." she whispered.

"Here's the coffee," Rossi returned to the group," Oh hi Emily, sorry I didn't get you any coffee"

"Its okay, I'm not in the mood for coffee"

"If Reid was here, he'd be saying something like 'How can't you be in the mood for coffee?! I'm always in the mood for coffee!'" laughed Morgan. The others laughed gently too.

-Another four hours later-

"It's been six hours," complained JJ, "We should've heard something by now!"

"Brain surgeries can last a long time, they are very precise" stated Hotch.

"That is correct," came the voice of someone near them, "Hello, Nurse McAllister, I believe you're friends of Agent Reid.."

"Doctor," Morgan interrupted, "Its Doctor Reid."

"My apologies. I'm here to first of all tell you that Doctor Reid made it through the surgery."

The team instantly erupted in celebration, hugging each other and letting themselves be over come with relief.

"I'm going to take you to see Doctor Smith, the lead surgeon working on Doctor Reid, who will talk you through what happened during the surgery and what steps need to be taken next, he's not out of the woods yet I'm afraid."

The team followed behind Nurse McAllister until they reached a small office. She knocked gently on the door and then entered.

"These are the agents who work with Doctor Reid," she announced before leaving.

All the team members managed to squeeze themselves into the small room before shutting the door, allowing the next conversation to be private.

"I did not know he was Doctor, what is he a doctor in?" the surgeon started.

"He has three PhDs, in engineering, chemistry and mathematics and three BAs, in philosophy, sociology and psychology"

"Wow, he seems very young to have achieved all that"

"Yep, he also has an eidetic memory and can read twenty thousand words per minute," stated Morgan proudly.

"So he is a genius?"

The group nodded.

"Wow, well we need to make sure we save his brain then. Unfortunately, Doctor Reid suffered from severe subarachnoid haemorrhaging, which is basically bleeding on the brain which was caused by two skull fractures. We managed to stop the bleeding but a lot of pressure had been put on the brain before hand so brain damage could still be a major issue. We will not know the full extent of the damage, if there's any, until he wakes up. So until then we just keep him stable and wait I'm afraid," Doctor Smith explained solemnly.

The happiness previously felt by the group began to diminish as they came to realise the extent of Reid's injuries.

"Can we see him?" asked JJ.

"You can but only briefly. He will be unconscious for while as the anaesthetic wears off and even then it may be a long time before he awakes, he has suffered from a very traumatic brain injury."

The team nodded their understanding once again.

"Okay then, follow me," the Doctor led them out of the room and down a series of corridors. They all gulped slightly as they entered ICU. After another couple of turns they arrived at Reid's room. The doctor stopped them before they could enter.

"I want to make sure you're ready for what you're going to see, it may be slightly distressing. And also I need to warn not to touch any of the equipment that is there," Doctor Smith directed the group.

"We'll be careful," Hotch assured.

The surgeon smiled before opening the door and letting them enter.

Despite the doctor's warning, nobody was ready for the sight before them. Reid's frail body was almost being engulfed by the white bed sheets. He looked even more thin and pale than usual, and his long brunette hair had been completely shaved off. He had so many different wires and machines attached to his skinny frame and an oxygen mask covering his usually talkative mouth. It was surprising for the team to see how weak and feeble he looked.

They all stood awkwardly in the door way as they took in the scene in front of them, before Hotch moved to sit in the seat by the bed. He leant over to Reid and gently picked up his hand, careful to not disturb the IV. He held it tightly and began to rub soothing circles with his thumb.

The others were both shocked yet not surprised at all at his show of sensitiveness towards the young doctor.

Morgan then moved to stand on the other side of the bed, "Hey pretty boy, I just want you to know that we're all here for you and we're all going to be waiting here for you to wake up," he whispered.

Rossi, JJ and Emily all moved to stand near the bed as well.

"This is all my fault, he shouldn't have been the one to cuff Hughes. Reid had just been attacked and it should've been my call as the team leader to let someone else cuff him while Reid recovered," Hotch confessed sadly.

"Hey now, this is no one's fault other than that scumbag of an Unsub. Reid would be the first to tell you that. We could probably all find a reason to make it our own fault but that is just our pain and guilt speaking. Nobody needs to blame themselves. This was just an accident. A terrible, horrific accident," Emily spoke strongly to everyone. And with that they all fell back into silence as they watched over their injured colleague, friend and brother.

 **Sorry the ending is a bit s**t but I did my best. Another chapter, probably the last, coming soon!**

 **~ AmIThatWeird x**


	3. The Awakening

_**Hey guys! I'm back, sorry for the extremely long wait. Life happens, you know? Anyways, I finally got around to writing the final chapter of this story, and after reading your reviews I hope I've answered any of your questions with this last part. It's not my best work, but I'm just getting back into writing so please bear with me. Let's get on with the show!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters used in this story. I will not profit from this, it is purely for entertainment purposes.**_

Everything felt numb, was the first thing that Reid noticed when he floated back into consciousness. There was also a dull throbbing along the back of his head, which he much preferred to the stabbing pain of earlier.

Speaking of earlier, what had happened?

His mind was fuzzy, a complete mess of unconnected, sporadic thoughts. This was something he did not like; he was used to his brain being ordered and methodical.

He slowly tried to piece together the events that had led to his present condition of confusion, but everything was just a blur. He remembered an unsub, and a house raid. Other than that he had nothing.

As his awareness began to improve he felt a hand resting on his arm. It felt reassuring, like an anchor holding him down and stopping him from getting lost in the muddle that was currently his brain. He tried to open his eyes to find out who was providing him this anchor but they just felt so heavy.

The presence beside him shifted and he felt the hand disappear from his arm. Spencer was suddenly overcome with panic, is anchor had gone. He heard as the person stood up and began to slowly walk away. He didn't want to be alone, alone to get lost in his thoughts again. He willed with all is might to show the other that he was awake so hopefully they would stay with him. His eyes cracked open, only for him to be suddenly blinded by the bright lights. After a moment to adjust, he managed to squint past the blinding lights and see that the person who has been holding him was in fact Hotch.

"Hotch," he tried to call, but it came out as no more than a croaky whisper.

—

Hotch had sent the rest of the team home a few hours ago, insisting that they get some rest. Rossi had told he should go home too so he could get some sleep, but Hotch refused to leave Spencer alone.

He sat next to the younger man, and watched his surrogate-son sleep. Despite Emily's words of wisdom earlier, he couldn't help be feel it was his fault that Reid was in the hospital bed and he was going to do everything he could to make it up to him. He placed his hand tentatively on Spencer's arm and looked at his face. It was completely emotionless, and although it reassured him that he wasn't in any pain it was also unnerving.

After a couple of hours of just sitting and watching, Hotch finally gave in and decided that he would have to leave Reid momentarily to relieve himself and get a coffee.

He got up slowly and headed towards the door. He was just about to reach out and open it when he heard a soft whisper; "Hotch "

He was at Spencer's side in lightning speed, and grabbed hold of his hand.

"Hey Spencer, how are you feeling,"he asked gently.

The young man slowly shifted his gaze to look at him and after a few seconds replied "Not the best to be honest"

Hotch nodded, "Are you in any pain?"

"Not really, my head just feels fuzzy"

"That's good, do you remember what happened"

Spencer shook his head.

That was bad.

It was at this point that Hotch realised he should probably get the Doctor, and notify his team that Reid was awake. He leant up and pressed the call button to alert the doctor before sending a quick text to the others.

Within a couple of minutes the Doctor came in, followed by a nurse.

"Hello Doctor Reid, my name is Doctor Smith and I've been looking after you the past couple of days. I'm just going to quickly check your brain function by asking you a few questions, okay?"

He waited for Reid to slowly nod before continuing.

"What is your name?"

"Spencer Reid"

"Good, what is your profession?"

Reid hesitated momentarily, "Supervisory Special Agent with the BAU unit"

"Good, good. Can you tell me what year it is?"

"2019"

"Okay, you're doing great so far. Can you recall how you sustained these injuries?"

Reid sighed, "Not really"

"Don't worry. You've suffered a major brain injury, a little memory loss is normal and is much better than the other different outcomes you could've faced"

The doctor took a few notes on his clipboard before turning to the nurse, "Can we keep I'm under regular obvs and give him an extra 12mg of Morphine please?"

Spencer was about to relax again when the gravity of what the doctor just said settled with him. He couldn't have Morphine, what if he became addicted to it like he did with the dilaudid. He looked to Hotch hoping he would get the message but he was too busy listening to the doctor ramble. "No Morphine!" He cried and started to pull at his IV line to stop it from getting into him. His breathing became erratic and raspy as he fought to remove the offending item.

"Dr Reid, calm down. The morphine will help with the pain"

"I don't want it!" Reid yelled and he was about to pull out his line but a strong hand stopped him.

"Spencer, its okay. if you don't want the Morphine it is fine, we will work something out. Pulling your IV out will only make matters worse. Just calm down for me, that's it" Aaron spoke gently to the young genius as he eventually managed to regulate his breathing.

"Good boy, calm down. I'm going to go talk to the doctor now, I will be back as quick as I can"

Aaron stood and gestured to the others to step outside with him. Once out the room he turned to the Doctor.

"Spencer unfortunately became addicted to dilaudid after being injected with it against his will on a case. He has now recovered, but refuses to take any narcotics in fear of becoming addicted again" he explained.

The doctor nodded, and after a minute of thought replied "that's okay, we've had patients before who can't have narcotics. We will take him off the Morphine and only prescribe him with ibuprofen for now, will he be okay with that?"

"Yes that's fine" Aaron said before nodding his thanks and returning to the room. Spencer had now sat himself up and seemed to be deep in thought.

"Hey, I've spoken to the doctor and he's agreed to only give you ibuprofen from now on"

Spencer looked up at him confusedly for a second before nodding. Hotch sat back down in the hospital chair and an awkward silence settled. After a couple of minutes Hotch realised that Spencer hadn't had anything to drink and must be thirsty. "Would you like an ice chip?" He asked.

"Yes please"

Hotch got up again and picked up one of the smaller chips and carefully placed into Reid's mouth. The cold water was refreshing and soothed as it slide down Spencer's throat. He greedily took three more and was about to ask for another when Hotch told him he would slow down. , Spencer suddenly realised how tired he actually was and struggled to keep his eyes open. Hotch noticed this, "Sleep Spencer, you need to" he told him. Spencer didn't need telling twice, and was back in the land of dreams within minutes.

Not long after he'd fallen asleep, Hotch also felt himself feeling dreary and soon found himself dozing lightly in his chair.

He didn't get much time to rest though because in only a few minutes he was startled awake by Morgan bursting through the door, closely followed by JJ.

"How is he?" Morgan questioned his tired boss.

"Doing well actually, he was awake for a good 15 minutes but fell back a sleep a moment ago"

"He's not the only one who should be sleeping, have you had any rest Hotch?" JJ asked.

"Well I was about to drop off until you two came flying through the door," he chuckled lightly.

The trio soon fell into a comfortable silence, and JJ took the other hospital chair while Morgan leant against the wall. All three just watched their resident genius sleep peacefully in the bed.

— 2 Hours Later —

Hotch had finally managed to fall in to as comfortable of a sleep he was going to get in the awkward hospital chairs, and Morgan had gone in search of his third cup of coffee.

JJ was softly stroking a thumb over the back of Reid's hand while she held it, both to soothe him and calm her own nerves. She knew he had been awake with Hotch before but she had yet to see him awake for herself and she was starting to feel dispirited from only seeing him unconscious. It broke her heart to see her little brother lying there practically helpless, surrounded by all the different machines doing god-knows-what to keep him alive. A silent tear slowly slid down her cheek.

"Don't cry"

Her head shot up at the sound of that unmistakable voice.

"Spence! Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

"I'm fine JJ, just a little tired"

"You suffered from a brain injury and you only feel 'a little tired'?"

Spencer nodded.

"Wow, well the Gods must have been looking out for you these last few nights"

It was at that moment that Morgan returned to the room. His eyes instantly lit up when he saw that Reid was awake.

"Hey Pretty Boy, nice of you to finally grace us with your presence"

"Derek," Spencer smiled.

"That's my name don't wear it out. How's our genius doing?"

"Okay thanks"

"Even with the whole shaved head thing?" Morgan laughed.

"What?" Spencer lifted a shaking hand to feel his head, and was shocked to find it was completely bald. He moved his hand all over his head, panic overcoming him when he finally realised his precious long hair had gone.

Morgan noticed how panicked Reid was getting and sat on the end of the bed.

"I'm sorry Reid, I didn't realise you hadn't noticed yet. Hey, it doesn't look that bad, you kind look like one of those cat-walk models with shaved heads that are all super-cool."

Reid stopped feeling his head and dropped his arm defeatedly. "I suppose it may do me good to grow it out again, it was getting quite unruly," he sighed.

"That's my boy"

Suddenly, the doors were flung open for the second time that day. Garcia ran in looking quite disheveled compared to her normal look.

"There's my boy wonder!" She exclaimed before practically throwing herself at Spencer for a hug. She held him tight in her arms, intent on never letting him go again. That was until Reid timidly asked her to loosen off so he could breath again.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you, I hurt you didn't I? Oh, I can be so stupid sometimes" she rambled.

"Calm down Penelope, I'm fine"

"That's good, thats good then."

Suddenly, she leant forward and smacked him on the arm.

"Ow!"

"Don't you ever scare me like that again! I was so worried about you, I thought you'd died!"

Spencer took her hand in his own and looked up at her. "Penelope, I would never leave you. I'm sorry for worrying you"

She hit him again.

"Ow! What now?"

"Don't ever apologise for getting hurt, it wasn't your fault you shouldn't be sorry!"

Spencer turned to Morgan for support, but he just shrugged. Penelope then sighed and sat on the bed next to Morgan. She kissed the back of Spencer's free hand before leaning back into Morgan's arms. The group all sat quietly, and soon Reid find himself lost to sleep once more, and the other's closely followed.

That's how Hotch found them when he finally awoke; JJ, Morgan, Garcia and Spencer all tangled up in each other and sleeping peacefully. He smiled to himself, after all this team had been through he was proud to know that they would always stick together, and that the bonds that held them strong were unbreakable.

And with that, he too fell asleep again, content in knowing his team was safe once more.

 _ **There we go, all finished! I hope you enjoyed and please review, I love to hear all feedback good and bad.**_

 _ **\- AmIThatWeird xx**_


End file.
